Central New York same-sex couples start their wedding plans, celebrate new law

Mike Greenlar / The Post-Standard The Salomone family, (from left) Susan, Mia, 6; Jean; behind in gray Matteo, 9; behind in orange, Jacob, 4; and Jayne, 12, in the living room of their Broad Street home in Syracuse. The Salomones had a commitment ceremony 17 years ago. They plan to legally wed on their anniversary in August.

Jean and Susan Salomone plan to get married on their 17th anniversary.

The couple had a commitment ceremony on Aug. 27, 1994, but it was not legally recognized as a marriage.

“We’re ecstatic,” said Jean Salomone, who lives in Syracuse with Susan Salomone and the couple’s four children . “When we had our first ceremony, it was for us and for our families with no state recognition. Now, there will be no question.”

A significant step

New York is the fifth-largest government in the world to allow same-sex marriage ( after South Africa, Spain, Argentina and Canada).

The number of Americans living in a state that allows same-sex marriage doubled after New York passed the law.

Five states and the District of Columbia allow same-sex marriage:. Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, Iowa and New Hampshire.

Sources: The Associated Press, New York Times, Christian Science Monitor

Same-sex couples and gay rights groups in Central New York and across the state applauded the 33-29 vote that made New York the sixth, and largest, state to approve same-sex marriage. Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed it into law just before midnight Friday.

All five of Central New York’s Republican senators voted no; the lone Democrat, David Valesky, voted yes.

Same-sex couples who have wanted to marry for years have had their hopes dashed before. In 2007 and 2009, the state Assembly approved a bill but the state Senate did not. Then, on June 15, the Assembly voted again, and it was a nail-biter until late Friday on what the closely divided Senate would do.

Rally Celebrates Marriage Equality in New York StatePeople gathered outside First English Lutheran Church in Syracuse on Saturday, June 25, 2011, to celebrate marriage equality in New York State. Among those who spoke (and who is pictured in this video) is Amanda Furco representing Sage Upstate, a non-profit that promotes the health and well being of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning people in Central New York as they age. Video by Lauren Long / The Post-Standard

“I didn’t want to let myself get too excited because there were a lot of disappointments over the years,” Salomone said.

Within two minutes of the vote, Salomone said, her phone rang. She assumed it was a friend.

“It was our oldest daughter who was at a friend’s house for a sleepover,” she said. “She just wanted to congratulate us.”

Frazier DeForge and her partner, Carrie Shepard, watched the vote tensely on Friday night. They had been disappointed before; two years ago when the Senate rejected the bill by a vote of 38-24.

DeForge and Shepard had considered getting married in Toronto, DeForge said, but decided to wait and see what New York would do.

“We’ve been waiting 14 years for this, and when that vote went down, we were the happiest two people on the planet,” she said. “I’m going to turn 50 in a few weeks, and this is the best gift I could ever have.”

The bill takes effect July 24. State law requires couples to wait 24 hours after obtaining a license from a town or city clerk to get married, but that can be waived by a judge.

Since 2008 New York has recognized same-sex marriages performed in other states, giving same-sex couples the same legal rights in New York as opposite-sex married couples. When Massachusetts legalized same-sex marriage in 2004, many New Yorkers got married there. Others have been married in Connecticut, which first had civil unions and then same-sex marriage in 2008.

But some same-sex couples said they wanted to be married at home.

“Carrie and I wanted to get married in the state where we own a home and the state we both love,” DeForge said.

DeForge said she and Shepard are planning a traditional, formal wedding.

“I’ve watched people do it all my life. They have these huge formal weddings, which I’ve loved,” she said. “I just want to have my seven people in my wedding party and wear a traditional tuxedo and my partner wear a traditional gown.”

In churches where gay marriage has been accepted for years, clergy members celebrated the new law.

“I would just say, ‘Hallelujah,’” said the Rev. Jean Wahlstrom of the May Memorial Unitarian Universalist Church in Syracuse. “It’s a long-awaited stand for justice and equal rights. It affirms family values that are grounded in love and not in hatred.”

Becky Clifford and her wife, Terri Clifford, of Liverpool, were married last year in Connecticut. They already have all the rights and protections of marriage in New York, but they plan to renew their vows in a ceremony on their first anniversary at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Liverpool.

“There are always going to be people who don’t look at us as usual, and that’s OK,” Clifford said. “There are not going to be as many questions. When I mention my wife, people aren’t going to say, ‘Is that legal?’”